Technotronic

All Music Guide:

Of the many studio-based dance music projects that dominated the charts during the early '90s, few were so popular, or such an improbable success story, as Technotronic. Emerging from Belgium, the multicultural group helped push the deep bass grooves and insistent beats of house music out of the club scene and into the pop mainstream; ironically, they did so largely by hiding behind the photogenic visage of an African-born fashion model who, it was later revealed, did not even perform on their records. In reality, Technotronic was the brainchild of Jo Bogaert (real name Thomas de Quincy), an American-born philosophy teacher who relocated to Belgium in the late '80s in the hopes of mounting a career as a record producer. Bogaert's intent was to fuse house with hip-hop, and toward that aim he sent demos of his work to a variety of rappers, including the Welsh-born MC Eric and a Zairean-born teenager named Ya Kid K (aka Manuela Kamosi), at the time a member of the Belgian rap group Fresh Beat Productions.

Technotronic's first single, 1989's "Pump Up the Jam," was a smash hit across Europe and eventually the U.S. While the record featured the raps of Ya Kid K, she was nowhere to be seen in the accompanying video, which instead featured Zairean-born fashion model Felly lip-syncing the lyrics; little did fans realize that not only was Felly nowhere near the studio at the time the single was recorded, in truth she did not even speak a word of English. She was also featured on the cover of Technotronic's debut LP, Pump Up the Jam: The Album, further blurring the lines between truth and fiction; in the end, Bogaert admitted that Felly's services had been engaged purely to establish the group with "an image." When Technotronic toured in support of the 1990 hit "Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over)," Ya Kid K and MC Eric were alone behind the microphone, and Ya Kid K was also rightfully featured in the song's video. The LP Trip on This! The Remixes soon followed, and in 1992 Ya Kid K went solo, albeit with Bogaert still in the producer's seat; her debut album, One World Nation, scored with the hit "Move This," originally a Technotronic cut released as a single after finding success in a cosmetics commercial. The 1995 Technotronic comeback attempt Recall was not a success.

Wikipedia:

Technotronic is a Belgian studio-based music project formed in 1988 by Jo Bogaert, who had already made his musical mark in the beginning of the 1980s as a part of a cover band and as a solo artist under various New Beat projects, including The Acts of Madmen and Nux Nemo. Together with vocalist Ya Kid K, he produced the hit single, "Pump Up the Jam", which was originally an instrumental. An image for the act was later put together, utilizing Congolese-born fashion model Felly Kilingi as its album/single cover art, and supposed "singer" in the music video.

"Pump Up The Jam"

The track that became "Pump Up The Jam" began life as "Technotronic" (which in turn became the project's official name), an original instrumental that Bogaert released under the name The Pro 24s. Based on Farley Jackmaster Funk's "The Acid Life," this instrumental initially included vocal samples from Eddie Murphy's "Delirious" live set and was months later replaced by newer music, along with lyrics and vocals from Ya Kid K. prior to the song's international release in September 1989.

The song became a worldwide success, eventually reaching #2 in both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart in late 1989/early 1990, becoming the first house song to break through to the pop mainstream. It not only introduced a new sound based on new beat, a dance genre developed around the Belgian music scene, but it was also one of the first songs to pioneer the short-lived hip-house genre, a fusion of house music with elements of hip-hop.

Further career

The success of the project's first single led to the release of the album, Pump Up the Jam: The Album, which featured tracks by Ya Kid K and MC Eric. They also became an opening act for Madonna and had appearances on Saturday Night Live, The Arsenio Hall Show, and It's Showtime at the Apollo. It was at this time that Ya Kid K became Technotronic's vocalist, after it was revealed that Felly was merely lip-synching the vocals of "Pump Up The Jam".

Three follow-up singles, "Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over)", a #7 hit in the US and a #2 hit in the UK; "This Beat Is Technotronic" (US Dance #3, UK #14); and "Rockin´ over the beat" (UK #9), also reached the Top 10 in many countries, and the album eventually climbed into the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 in the US and reached #2 in the UK Albums Chart.

In 1990, Kamosi contributed vocals on the single "Spin That Wheel", as part of Technotronic's "side project" Hi-Tek 3, for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack.

A megamix was released compiling many of Technotronic's previous hits. Released as a single, it peaked at #6 in the UK and #1 on the Eurochart Hot 100.

In 1992, the song "Move This" (also featuring Kamosi) from the album became popular through its use in a Revlon television commercial, and it became their third Top 10 hit in the United States, peaking at #6. With renewed interest in the album, it was repackaged in 1992 with the same track listing, but this time it featured Ya Kid K on the cover.

Technotronic has sold approximately 14 million albums and singles worldwide.

20th anniversary (1989–2009)

MC Eric and Ya Kid K. reunited and have toured parts of Europe, South America and Australia, as a part of commemorating Technotronic's 20th anniversary, performing their classic hits as well as new material. MC Eric also tours as a DJ. In 2010 MC Eric gave one of few interviews after a DJ set at Vert Pop. The interview for F**k You! Brussels magazine attracted much attention in the Belgium Capital for its unconventional and hilarious questions; "FUB:Who the f**k are you? - ERIC: Who the f**k am I? Who the f**k are you? - FUB: We're F**k You! Brussels." "FUB: What was your worst sexual experience? - ERIC: My worst sexual experience? Wauwww. Probably, I slept with this girl that I shouldn't have, and when I pulled out, the condom looked like a wedding ring. It was f***ing broken."